On June 12, Russia is celebrated in our country. But. there is another country in the world - Paraguay, which celebrates a holiday on this day. And the Russian contribution to this holiday is very significant. 80 years ago, on June 12, 1935, the war between Paraguay and Bolivia, the so-called Chaco War, ended victoriously. An invaluable contribution to this victory was made by Russian officers, for whom, after the civil war in Russia, Paraguay became a new homeland.
The war got its name from the territory of the Chaco - semi-desert, hilly in the north-west and swampy in the southeast, with impassable jungle, on the border of Bolivia and Paraguay. From the sides she considered this land her own, but no one seriously drew a border there, since these wastelands and impassable thorny bushes, intertwined with vines, really did not bother anyone. Everything changed dramatically when, in 1928, in the foothills of the Andes, in the western part of the Chaco region, geologists discovered signs of oil. This event radically changed the situation. For the possession of the territory, armed clashes began, and in June 1932 a real war broke out.
Economics is inseparable from politics. And from this point of view, the Chaco War was caused exclusively by the rivalry between the American oil corporation Standard Oil, led by the Rockefeller family, and the British-Dutch Shell Oil, each of which sought to monopolize the "future" oil of Chaco. Standard Oil, having put pressure on President Roosevelt, provided American military aid to the friendly Bolivian regime, sending it through Peru and Chile. In turn, Shell Oil, using Argentina, then allied to London, was intensively arming Paraguay.
The Bolivian army used the services of German and Czech military advisers. Since 1923, Bolivia's Minister of War has been General Hans Kundt, a World War I veteran. From 1928 to 1931, Ernst Rohm, then the well-known head of the assault detachments of the Nazi party, served as an instructor in the Bolivian army. There were 120 German officers in the Bolivian army. German military advisers created from the Bolivian armed forces an exact copy of the German army of the First World War. Seeing at the parade his troops marching in a typical Prussian style, where officers adorned in shiny helmets with "shishaks" from the time of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the President of Bolivia proudly declared: "Yes, now we can quickly resolve our territorial differences with the Paraguayans!"
By that time, a large colony of Russian White Guard officers-emigrants had settled in Paraguay. After wandering around the world, they were unpretentious, homeless and poor. The Paraguayan government offered them not only citizenship but also officer positions. In August 1932, almost all Russians who were at that time in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion gathered in the house of Nikolai Korsakov. The time was very alarming: the war began and they, the immigrants, had to decide what to do in this situation. Korsakov expressed his opinion: “Twelve years ago we lost our beloved Russia, which is now in the hands of the Bolsheviks. All of you can see how warmly we were received in Paraguay. Now, when this country is going through a difficult moment, we must help it. What can we expect? After all, Paraguay has become a second homeland for us, and we, the officers, are obliged to fulfill our duty to it."
Russians began arriving at recruiting stations and volunteering for the Paraguayan army. All of them retained the ranks with which they ended the civil war in Russia. There was only one peculiarity: after mentioning the rank of each Russian volunteer, two Latin letters "NS" were always added. This abbreviation stood for "Honoris Causa" and distinguished them from regular Paraguayan officers. Eventually. in the Paraguayan army there were about 80 Russian officers: 8 colonels, 4 lieutenant colonels, 13 majors and 23 captains. And 2 generals - I. T. Belyaev and N. F. Ern = headed the General Staff of the Army of Paraguay, commanded by General José Felix Estigarribia.
Russian officers at one time participated in the First World War and actively used their experience in battles against the Bolivian army. Bolivia used the German experience. On the side of Bolivia, there was a significant superiority in numbers and weapons. At the first stage of the war, the Bolivian army began an active advance deep into the territory of Paraguay and captured several strategically important forts: Boqueron, Corrales, Toledo. However, in many respects, thanks to Russian officers, out of tens of thousands of mobilized illiterate peasants, it was possible to create a combat-ready, organized army. Also, Generals Ern and Belyaev managed to prepare defensive structures, and in order to confuse the Bolivian aviation, which had air superiority, they planned and skillfully made false artillery positions, so that the aviation bombed, disguised as guns, trunks of palm trees.
The merit of Belyaev, who was well aware of the straightforwardness of the tactics of the German general and who well studied the techniques of the German army on the fields of the First World War, should be recognized as determining the direction and timing of the offensive of the Bolivian troops. Kundt later stated that in Bolivia he wanted to test a new method of attack that he used on the Eastern Front. However, this tactic crashed against the defenses built by the Russians for the Paraguayans.
Russian officers also behaved heroically in battles. Esaul Vasily Orefiev-Serebryakov in the battle at Boqueron, led the chain into a bayonet attack, in front, with a naked saber. Defeated, he managed to say the words that became winged: "I followed the order. It's a beautiful day to die!" The attack was successful, but at the decisive moment two machine guns hit the Paraguayans. The attack began to "choke". Then Boris rushed to one of the machine guns and closed the embrasure of the machine gun nest with his body. Russian officers died heroically, but their courage is not forgotten, their names are immortalized in the names of the streets, bridges and forts of Paraguay.
Applying the tactics developed by the Russian generals for fortified points and sorties of sabotage detachments, the Paraguayan army neutralized the superiority of the Bolivian troops. And in July 1933, the Paraguayans, together with the Russians, went on the offensive. In 1934, hostilities were already taking place in Bolivia. By the spring of 1935, both warring parties were extremely financially exhausted, but the morale of the Paraguayans was at its best. In April, after fierce fighting, the Bolivian defenses were broken along the entire front. The Bolivian government has asked the League of Nations to mediate a truce with Paraguay.
After the defeat of the Bolivian army near Ingavi, on June 12, 1935, an armistice was concluded between Bolivia and Paraguay. This is how the Chak War ended. The war turned out to be very bloody. Killed 89,000 Bolivians and almost 40,000 Paraguayans, according to other sources - 60,000 and 31,500 people. 150,000 people were injured. Almost the entire Bolivian army was captured by the Paraguayans - 300,000 people
But what caused the whole "fuss" to flare up - oil in Chaco was never found. However, the Russian diaspora after this war received a privileged position. The fallen heroes are honored, and any Russian in Paraguay is treated with respect.
